May – Club night with Andrei Seliukov, CEO of Terravelobike, and other speakers
Electromobility is a topic that is gaining more and more attention worldwide. Experts assume that we will see the widespread use of electric vehicles and at least a partial replacement of the combustion engine as the main type of propulsion within the next decade. In Belarus, too, the topic of electromobility is in the spotlight, both at the political level and in the business world.
At the club evening in May, we wanted to take this global and local development into account. With Andrei Seliukov from the Belarusian start-up Terravelobike and Evgeny Finogenov from our club member BASF, which works closely with the new JV BelGee, two experts appeared who were able to illuminate and present the topic of electromobility from different points of view. While Mr. Seliukov shared the practical experience of his start-up with the development and production of electric bikes with us, Mr. Finogenov provided an overview of the potentials and problems of electric cars in general, as well as the upcoming next steps of the car industry, but also the cities and municipalities in thisк direction.
For example, we learned that electric bikes can be of great interest especially for delivery-intensive industries, such as pizza or sushi services, grocery chains with delivery services, or postal and logistics companies, due to the much lower purchase price compared to small cars. The most important problem of electric vehicles - that of limited battery charging - is to be solved by expanding the corresponding infrastructure, as well as the possibility of quickly and easily exchanging the removableт batteries. With the further development of environmental awareness and infrastructure, the circle of potential interested parties should also increase rapidly and include more and more private individuals.
Government initiative is also playing a role in the development of electric cars at BelGee and Unison plants. These are based on the conventional models of Geely and Zotye. Again, the first consumers of electric cars are expected to be taxi companies and logisticians. Mr Finogenov also identified the task of fast battery charging as a key issue, the solution to which is directly linked to the spread of electric cars. This is exactly why there are different hybrid versions of electric cars nowadays, and Mr Finogenov's presentation familiarised us with how they work.
The evening was rounded off by the presentation of our partner, the Representative Office of the German Economy in Belarus, on the traditional annual survey on the business climate index, which is conducted annually among German companies operating in Belarus. The results of the survey, in which many of our members also participated, were presented by the economic advisor of RDW, Dr Litvinov, and discussed in the context of current developments in the Belarusian and world economy.
The recovery of the Belarusian economy that began in 2017 and the positive trends in world trade despite increasing protectionist actions at the political level definitely coincided with the positive assessment of their own current situation by German companies in the country.
At the club evening in May, we wanted to take this global and local development into account. With Andrei Seliukov from the Belarusian start-up Terravelobike and Evgeny Finogenov from our club member BASF, which works closely with the new JV BelGee, two experts appeared who were able to illuminate and present the topic of electromobility from different points of view. While Mr. Seliukov shared the practical experience of his start-up with the development and production of electric bikes with us, Mr. Finogenov provided an overview of the potentials and problems of electric cars in general, as well as the upcoming next steps of the car industry, but also the cities and municipalities in thisк direction.
For example, we learned that electric bikes can be of great interest especially for delivery-intensive industries, such as pizza or sushi services, grocery chains with delivery services, or postal and logistics companies, due to the much lower purchase price compared to small cars. The most important problem of electric vehicles - that of limited battery charging - is to be solved by expanding the corresponding infrastructure, as well as the possibility of quickly and easily exchanging the removableт batteries. With the further development of environmental awareness and infrastructure, the circle of potential interested parties should also increase rapidly and include more and more private individuals.
Government initiative is also playing a role in the development of electric cars at BelGee and Unison plants. These are based on the conventional models of Geely and Zotye. Again, the first consumers of electric cars are expected to be taxi companies and logisticians. Mr Finogenov also identified the task of fast battery charging as a key issue, the solution to which is directly linked to the spread of electric cars. This is exactly why there are different hybrid versions of electric cars nowadays, and Mr Finogenov's presentation familiarised us with how they work.
The evening was rounded off by the presentation of our partner, the Representative Office of the German Economy in Belarus, on the traditional annual survey on the business climate index, which is conducted annually among German companies operating in Belarus. The results of the survey, in which many of our members also participated, were presented by the economic advisor of RDW, Dr Litvinov, and discussed in the context of current developments in the Belarusian and world economy.
The recovery of the Belarusian economy that began in 2017 and the positive trends in world trade despite increasing protectionist actions at the political level definitely coincided with the positive assessment of their own current situation by German companies in the country.